I've heard of the perfect storm, but never the perfect bank tech company

By Art Gillis

I should tell you that the day I graduated from college I thought the word "perfect" was going to be the basis for everything I was going to do in my work. When I reported to my first "job" as a second lieutenant at SAC Hq., ready to automate the financial services division, I began to soft peddle the word "perfect." Today the word cannot be found in my lexicon of business language, although I can still find uses for it in other parts of my life. OK, I've set the stage, so what am I talking about? I am now in the data collection phase of building the 2006 Edition of my annual research report. Stuff is coming at me from everywhere. A lot of it requires me to act like Miss Kane, my kindergarten teacher. But today I got a pleasant surprise. It started with a name I never heard of - Diana Pineda from Online Resources Corp. My first reaction was, oh no, another rookie. And then I read the inputs. 14.3% increase in employment. 43% increase in revenue. 11.1% increase in customers (financial institutions). 74% increase in the number of consumers using ORCC's Internet Banking solutions. Six new application offerings bringing the total to 14. Yes, I am impressed with the efforts of 400 ORCC employees, but how wonderful that Ms. Pineda told the story so eloquently and without excuses that typically the new kid on the block uses. I wish I had a trophy to award, but this company doesn't need one from me. I imagine Wall Street will take care of that.